A fashion retailer that offers the ability to customise clothes and create unique garments online. Flair Atelier allows customers to mix and match various aspects of clothing to create elegant and beautiful designs. The company's first collection already consists of 3 dresses, available in 2 colours, which can be altered to generate over 2,000 combinations. Talented British dressmakers are able to produce the garment within two weeks.
days to go:
Expired
investment:
£115,360
Beija London (BL) is a digital lingerie brand for cup sizes AA-H with a flagship store at Coal Drops Yard, Kings Cross. It argues that women have suffered because of the over glamorisation of the intimates sector. BL intends to solve that problem. It asserts that every single bra it makes caters to different cup sizes and different needs. The company has received an investment of £1.8 million in equity finance to date. BL witnessed +1300 fittings being completed on its online bra fitting service portal since its launch in April 2020 and garnered a Net Promoter Score (NPS) of 57. BL was approached by Victoria's Secret US in 2019 to help the latter expand its offering and be more inclusive of different body shapes. It states it will use the investment to ensure that it has a sufficient stock of fast selling fashion lines to boost cash flow and increase the lifetime value of its loyal customer base.
days to go:
Expired
investment:
£478,013
Rebel Energy (RE) is an energy supplier on a mission to address inequality and provide everyone with easy access to clean and affordable energy, to eventually eliminate fuel poverty. RE claims that fuel poverty led to 16,500+ cold-related deaths in the UK in 2018. RE argues that as the UK home electricity market enters a phase of growth in a post-COVID world, it will be focused on offering reliable customer service and develop strategies that help people who are struggling with their electricity bills. The company has applied for a B Corporation accreditation. RE asserts that its customer support systems are automated and can handle multiple queries simultaneously. It plans to offer a weekly direct debit payment option. RE will use the investment to grow its business across different verticals.
days to go:
Expired
investment:
£503,810
Selling fashion brands' overstock directly to customers at a lower price as a form of ethical recycling. BlackBetty purchases excess inventory from big brands and pay less than the manufacturing cost of the product. The company does not state the brand name on their website, to prevent damage to the brand. In November 2018, more than 17,000 orders were placed, which was worth over £284k. BlackBetty has seen customers return to the website on average 7 times within the first year to make purchases.
days to go:
Expired
investment:
£289,420
Soho Street Cocktails (SSC) uses the finest quality ingredients, including real fruits with no artificial flavours or colours to produce high-quality pre-mixed cocktails. SSC argues that bars and restaurants make high margins from the sale of cocktails but the serving time of several minutes per cocktail causes either a backlog of bar orders or requires additional staff. The company asserts that its drinks, in contrast, are poured directly into a cocktail shaker with ice, shaken for 8-10 seconds, then served to the customer. SSC stresses that it has found success in bars and restaurants. SSC's current range consists of three ready-mixed cocktails, namely Espresso martini, Pornstar martini, and Raspberry Daiquiri, with more flavours in the pipeline. It has submitted its product for sampling and testing with major retailers, including Waitrose, Sainsbury, Tesco and Costco. SSC states it will use the investment for additional production runs to ensure sufficient stock to cater to larger orders from distributors and festivals.
days to go:
Expired
investment:
Withheld
Vertically Urban (VU) is a horticultural lighting specialist that produces high-tech LED lighting solutions for indoor industrial farms, glasshouses, medicinal growers and onsite Pod farms, who in turn, supply to supermarkets, restaurants and the medical market. The company aims to be a segment leader in the global vertical farming market that is projected to reach $12.7 billion by 2026. VU asserts that vertical farming has been tipped as the future of food production and supported by early investors such as Amazon’s Jeff Bezos. The company has witnessed £30 million+ worth of sales to date. It will use the investment to increase brand awareness via horticultural trade shows, market its products on online and offline portals, develop new technologies, and recruit senior personnel to oversee growth in key markets.
days to go:
Expired
investment:
£335,040
East London Liquor Company (ELLC) has been distilling, importing and serving gins, whiskies, vodkas, rums, and canned cocktails since 2014. ELLC asserts that off-trade gin sales hit US$8.4 billion in 2020 with UK seltzer sales expected to reach £75 million by 2023. It intends to become a contender in the aforementioned categories. ELLC has had a 600% Year-on-Year (YoY) increase to £206,000 in off-trade sales from 2019-2020 to 2020-2021. The company has partnered with the UNESCO world heritage site, Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew, to release its product, Kew Gin. It has also entered into the Ready-To-Drink and seltzer categories with its range of canned drinks, and onboarded retailers like Waitrose, Tesco, and Co-Op. The company will use the investment to grow its off-trade channels both in the UK and abroad, expand its Direct To Consumer (DTC) output, update its 'Brand Home' to attract more customers, and increase its whisky production to meet demand.
days to go:
Expired
investment:
£921,686
Knoma is a payment solution that helps people looking to future-proof their career or move into new areas of work by eliminating the burden of upfront payment, and by removing the challenges of sourcing an appropriate course. Backed by a large European Venture Capital firm, Knoma enables lifelong learning as the global economy transitions to one where digital skills are essential for career success. All Knoma students can gain access up to £10,000 to pay for the course of their choice, which can be spread over 12 months with flexible repayments with no interest or fees applicable. The company has partnered with organisations like Codeclan, Wild Code School, Le Wagon, and Code Nation and has successfully secured £750,000 in funding from some of Europe's largest venture capital firms, namely, Global Founders Capital, and Rocket Internet. The company will utilise the investments to expand partnerships with tech and coding schools, test and deploy the Knoma app, unlock a £20 million debt facility to provide Knoma loans to its students, and scale the business on all verticals.
days to go:
Expired
investment:
£529,660
A socially led clothing brand relaunched in 2017 with three dedicated stores, as well as goods available in more than 150 retailers across the UK. Rupert and Buckley has recently acquired a new distribution centre and is the Leisurewear partner of 'The Boat Race’, which has a global audience of over 6 million.
days to go:
Expired
investment:
£94,860
Deciwatt develops renewable energy solutions and its new product (nowlight), creates instant power and light from the pull of a cord. This company created 'nowlight' leveraging on the success of its first product ‘GravityLight’, which had secured media coverage from around the world, won many awards and was sold by major retailers like Best Buy and Walmart. Additionally, it has been awarded a new £173,788 grant from Innovate UK to integrate Pay-As-You-Go technology into nowlight. Further, this company has a pending registered trademark on the nowlight name and a patent pending on the manual power generation mechanism. It will invest the fund raised in implementing its marketing plans, further product development, and scale up its marketing activity and develop its business.
days to go:
Expired
investment:
£519,607
